Massage therapy is often dismissed as a spa treat or an intimate exercise in lingerie and oils. But rubdowns may offer serious health benefits.

Pauline King, of Ohio's James Cancer Hospital, and Richard Jost, studied the effects of massage on cancer patients experiencing physical discomfort and anxiety. Some subjects received a 15-minute massage while others just sat with someone. Patients who got physical contact later reported less pain and stress than controls.

Massage also seems to rev up the immune system in times of fatigue and anxiety, according to Diane Zeitlin, of the New Jersey Medical School. Zeitlin gave nervous medical students an hour-long massage one day before a major exam. After the rubdowns, blood tests indicated increased numbers and activity of subjects' white blood cells and natural killer-cells—immune-system defenders that attack viruses and tumors in the body.

While certainly soothing, massage therapy seems to have untapped potential as treatment for pain and illness. "There hasn't been much research on the physiological effects of massage," says Zeitlin. "Hopefully, these results will pave the way for bigger studies."